1. Field of the Invention:
This invention relates, in general, to fishhooks.
One of the most important pieces of fishing tackle is the fishhook which is the physical connection to a fish when the fish is caught. Fishhooks are available in many different sizes, shapes and weights for catching different types of fish, for use in different water conditions and for use with different fishing techniques.
A typical fishhook includes an eye, a shank which is the straight portion extending from the eye, a bend which is the curved portion at the end of the shank, a barb and a point formed on the outermost end of the bend.
Double or multiple fishhooks include two or more individual hooks, each having a bend, barb and point, which are angularly spaced at the end of a common shank or multiple aligned shanks. The purpose of such multiple hooks is to improve the secure attachment of bait to the hook or to increase the likelihood of catching a fish striking the hook.
Tandem hooks are also known in which two hooks are rigidly connected end-to-end by attaching the eye or shank of one hook to the shank of another hook. In these types of fishhooks, it is common for the bends of both hooks to be coplanar with each other and the shank or shanks of the hooks. Even if the bends extend in opposite directions from the shafts, as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,280,296, the typical tandem fishhook has such bends, barbs and points disposed in a co-planar arrangement with the shanks of both fishhooks. This is to prevent any spinning of the hook and to enable a straight pull of the fishhook through the water.
In fly fishing, an artificial fly is attached to a fishhook or hooks by winding fur, feathers, tinsel, hair or synthetic materials about the hook. Some local fishing ordinances ban the use of blades or spinners on flies which create a spinning action of the fly and hook as it is drawn through the water while being reeled in. Most commercially available fishhooks, with the bends, barbs and points disposed in the same plane as the shanks create no spinning action. While offset bends are noted for their spinning action and are thus ignored or minimally used, they do cause a spinning action of the fishhook. However, due to the single hook employed with an offset bend, such spinning action is uncontrolled, that is, it is intermittent or has a non-constant arc of rotation. As such, such offset bends have not been useful in presenting a fly acting as a dying bait fish which is attractive to a fish.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide a fishhook for use in fly fishing which creates a controlled spinning action of the fishhook as the fishhook is being reeled in through the water without the use of additional attachments or spinners. It would also be desirable to provide a fishhook which creates a spinning action which can be simply constructed using presently available fishhooks and/or fishhook designs.